Original Article

Influence of trace La and Ce additions on through-process texture evolution in non-oriented silicon steel

¹ School of Rare Earth Industry, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou 014010, Inner Mongolia, PR China
² Key Laboratory of Green Extraction & Efficient Utilization of Light Rare-Earth Resources (Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Baotou 014010, Inner Mongolia, PR China

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Received: 9 March 2026
Accepted: 8 June 2026

Abstract

To systematically elucidate the roles of rare-earth lanthanum (La) and cerium (Ce) in the through-process texture evolution of nonoriented silicon steel, either 33 ppm La or 35 ppm Ce was separately added while keeping the steel grade and processing window identical. Texture evolution along the route of as-cast, hot rolling, normalizing, cold rolling, annealing was characterized by multi-scale electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and XRD. In the as-cast condition, La markedly strengthened the {001}//ND texture, increasing the (200) pole-figure maximum from 7.68 to 11.34, whereas Ce led to an overall texture dispersion. After hot rolling, La further intensified {001}//ND (from 3.48 to 5.02), while Ce mainly promoted {110}-related components. Following normalizing, both rare-earth additions weakened the γ-fiber, with the {111}<112> fraction decreasing from 8.56% to 4.16% (Ce) and 3.06% (La). After cold rolling, La strongly enhanced {001}<011>, increasing its fraction from 0.20% to 8.18%. After annealing at 900°C, La increased the {001} fraction from 3.28% to 9.23% and further suppressed the γ-fiber from 2.11% to 0.75%. Overall, La is more effective than Ce in promoting {001} and suppressing the γ-fiber, providing practical guidance for composition and process design toward nonoriented silicon steels with low core loss, high magnetic flux density, and low in-plane anisotropy.